8. CCS activities

As of reporting year 2022, Footprint has been adapted in order to also report on drilling activities from CCS wells. These are not defined as petroleum activities, but there are significant similarities between CCS drilling and “normal” drilling, and the NEA has approved their activities along the same principles. An agreement was therefore reached between the NEA and the operators, stating that these well activities should also be reported into Footprint.

Activities are limited to date but are expected to increase gradually as new storage licenses are awarded. In 2022, three exploration licenses under the CCS storage regulations were awarded on the NCS: one in the North Sea (Equinor ASA), one in the Barents Sea (Equinor ASA/Horisont Energi AS/Vår Energi AS), and another one in the North Sea (Wintershall Dea Norge AS/Altera Infrastructure Group, Stella Maris CCS AS). These licenses are in addition to the Northern Lights license. In 2022, two wells were drilled in the Northern Lights license. Some key figures follow:

Discharges to sea:

Drainage water – 2, 998 tons
Oil to sea – 0.03 tons

Chemical discharges:

Red category – 0.11 tons
Yellow category – 49 tons
Green category – 1,294 tons

Emissions to air:

CO₂ emissions – 8,610 tons
NOx emissions – 119 tons
CH₄ emissions – 0.50 tons
nmVOC – 14 tons